Birmingham set to mount formal bid for 2022 Commonwealth Games

Birmingham will formally bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games after receiving approval from the British Government.

The city will become the UK's official candidate to replace Durban as host of the games after the South African city was stripped of hosting rights earlier this year.

In a statement, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Karen Bradley said: "The Commonwealth Games in Birmingham would be brilliant. It would showcase the best of Britain to the world and make the entire country proud.

"The UK has fantastic expertise in staging major sporting events and it would be a privilege to welcome athletes and supporters from across the Commonwealth to Birmingham and the West Midlands in 2022."

Birmingham is so far the only city to formally declare their intention to bid ahead of Saturday's deadline -- with Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Victoria, Canada also potential bidders. A decision on the host city for the games will be made by the end of the year.

The bid, which will be put forward on Saturday, will feature venues such as Aston Villa's Villa Park and the city's Alexander Stadium -- which would be expanded from its current capacity of 13,000 to 20,000, with 25,000 temporary seats for the Games.

The next edition of the games will be held at Australia's Gold Coast early next year.